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Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive 
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littp://www.arcliive.org/details/proceedingsofcalOOcali 



PROCEEDINaS 



California Academy of Sciences 



1 



INCLUDING 



A Paper Aead before the Academy December 6, 1880, 



-> 



ON THE 



jednijette Arctic Expedilioij aijd the I^issing Whalers, 



BY 



CHARLES WOLCOTT BROOKS, 



SAN FRANflSCO, CALIFORNIA, U. S. A. 
Re-printed from the report in the Daily Alta California, 




PROCEEDINGS 

OK THE 

■California Academy of Sciences 

•I 

AT A 

Reception Given to the Captain and Officers 

OF THE 

U. S. Steamer JJi07nas Corzvin and Captains of the Pacific 
Whaling Fleet on their retttrn from the Arctic. 



Their Views, and Unanimous Expression of Bemef in the Jeannette's Safety. 

Speculations Concerning the Whereabouts of the Missing Whalers 

Vigilant and Mount Wollaston. 

INCLUDING 

A Paper Read before the Academy December 6, 1880, 

BY 

CHARLES WOLCOTT BROOKS, 

Member of the California Academy of Sciences. 



SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U. S. A. 
Re-printed from the report in Daily Alta California, 



c<^^ X, 



lS7f 



By tarwuiftir 



■S -^ BUrcbsr4 



LC Control Number 



tmp96 026032 



MAP OF BERING STRAIT ENTRANCE TO THE ARCTIC OCEAN 



[Showing exploring ground of the Jeannette Expedition.] 
This cut is from the San Francisco lUtllctin of December 8th 1880. 







'usbuhne 

PTHOPE 



'H4MT 




EXPLANATORY NOTES. 

Arrows indicate course of known currents. 

Horizontal shaded lines show condition of the ice in the summer of 1879, 

C — Narrow passage east of Herald Island, most northerly point reached by Revenue Cutter Thomas Corwin. 

J — Cape Serdze, point where Lieutenant De Long left the letter received via Russian Government. 

JJ — Near Herald Island, points where the Jeannette was last seen. 

W — Point where whaling barks Mount Wollaston and Vigilant were last seen. 



PnOCEEDINQS 



California Academy of Sciences 



Scientific Inferences, from a Certain State of Facts, as to the Proba- 
ble Movements and Present Position of the American Arctic 
Exploring Yacht "Jeannette" — She Must Have Penetrated 
So Far North as to Have Been Beyond Communication 
from the South During the Present Year — Probability 
that Her Crew Are Now Carrying On Sledge Work 
and Explorations -The Second Year Always 
Best for Such Work — Possibility that 
the Missing Whalers Have Commu- 
nicated with the "Jeannette." 



A.t the regalar eemi-moGtbly meeting of the OalU 
(ornla Academy of Sciencts, held on Monday even- 
ing, December 6th, 188J, a eoientiac welcome was 
extended to Captain 0. Ii. Hooper and officers of 
the U. S. Bteamer Corwin, and to the Oaptalns of the 
American whaling flset, recently arrived at this 
port from the Arctic Ocean. These gentlemen oc- 
cupied positions on the stage beside the Vioe-Presl- 
dent, Jnstin P. Moore, who occapled the Uhair in the 
absence of Professor Geo. Davidson. Some very val- 
uable specinecs were prejented to the Mneeum by 
Capt. Hooper, including a large fossil tusk of a hairy 
mammoth, and also one of that animal's enormous 
teeth taken from Elephant Point, Ktiebue Sound. 
Also, a large block of excellent coal from the coal 
Beams, from four to twenty feet wide, found in the 
Arctic at Cape Lisbonrne. These seams occur 
more or less frequently, extending over a distance of 
twenty miles or so along the Ar".tlc shore of Alaska. 
He also presented a fosslllferous rock from Cape 
Thompson, Arctic Ojean. A fine collection of 
Indian dresses were presented by Ivan Petroff, 
and also a large collection of stone mortars, 
etc , from o;her localities, were presented by B 
B. Bedding. 

The proceedings of the Academy were more than 
usually interesting, the subject under disonsslon 
being the probable position of the exploring expedi- 
tion under Lieut. De Long D. 8. N , in the steam 
yacht Jeannette. and the fate of the missing whalers 
Mount WoUaston and Vigilant, which were unable 
to get out of the Arctic Ocean in the Fall of 
1879, and which have not since been heard from. 

Mr. C. W. Brooke then read a fall and carefully- 
prepared paper on the conditions surrounding the 
Jeannette and the misiing whalers Vigilant and 



Mount Wollaston which was listened to by 
a crowded house with marked interest, and fte> 
qaentiT applauded most heartily. 

PAPER BY CHARLES WOLCOTT BROOKS. 

Mr. Brooks' paper was entitled -• The American 
Arctic Exploring Expedition ; an Enquiry and Be> 
view of the probable situation of the Jeannette and 
missing whalers, Vigilant &Di Mount WoUaston ; " and 
wa§ finely illostrated by a colored map, drawn on a 
very large scale, and proved very useful in treating 
thin subject. He began with 

The £nqalry. 

Before the Sf»iling of the Jeannette Arctic Explor. 
ing Expedition, this Academy held a special meet> 
ing to receive and do honor to Captain De Long and 
his able 8ta£F of officers, and to ofier them. In behalf 
of all men of science, their warm and hearty sympa> 
thies, with words of cbeerin»! hope and friendly en- 
couragement. Seventeen months have now passed 
since that brave band were escorted outside our 
Qoldec Gats by a fleet of enthusiastic well-wishers, 
and bidden Ood tpeed upon their adventurous 
voyage, with earnest prayers for their success and 
safe return. Since then the Arctic fleet of American 
whalers on the Pacific have twice returned to 
' this port, brit-ging to us much miscel aneous 
inroriuation of a general character calcnlated, 
when properly sifted and eystpmatioally arranged, 
to throw some circumstantial light upon the condi- 
tions encountered by the J<annette. and the occasion 
i-eems an appropriate one, for this Academy, which, 
by location, is the nearest scientific body to this 
especial fiald of Arctic research and by greater prox- 
imity enjoys means of verification, to institute a 



csrefal inqnlry regarding ^sinds, cnrrente, weather, 
loe, 8b1 by a critical exauilnation of log boots, 
aatbentlcate and establish a carefnl digest of i-uch 
physical ooDditlons and scattered reports pertaining 
to the two past eeagons in the Arctic Ocean, as shall 
aasist a jnst and ecieLtlfic eatimate. when reviewed, 
of the probable movements and present poti. 
tion of not only the Jeannelle, bat her un- 
willing companions in the Arctic — the mi»8- 
ing whalers Vigilant and Mount Wollaston With 
this object tu view, regarding it as the 
especial duty of this Academy, the following ic- 
quiry has been prosecuted with care and Industry, 
and all reasonable effort made to make it both 
thorough and reliable. After coaling at 8t. 
Michael's, the Jeannette passed throngh Bering 
Straits, steering in the direction of St. Lawrence 
Bay, thence around East Oape, to Cape Serdze, 
and left a letter on the northern coast of Hlberia, in 
the Arctic Ocean, from which point — a ter landing a 
letter dated Aognst 27th, 1879. which was about 
twelve months in reaching New TorK — Oaptain De 
Long had intended to approach the southern end of 
Wrangel Land, in latitude 70° 45' norih, and near 
the prime meridian of 180°, touching, if practica- 
ble, at Kollntohiu Bay, to inquire regarding Nor- 
densbjold ; but the latter's safe arrival doubtless 
influencea him to renounce any unnecessary delays 
and press onward at once. On the 2d of Septem- 
ber, 1879, when about fifty miles or so south of 
Herald Islacd, Uaptaln Barnes, of the American 
Whale bark Sea Breeze saw the Jeannette and at- 
tempted to commnnlcae with her, but both vessels 
were at the time in heavy ice and a dense fog was 
setting in which prevailed up to the following day. 
Owing to these circumstances, these vessels, which 
had approached to withlu less than four miles of 
each other, resumed their courses without com- 
mnnication. On the following day, Septembpr 3d, 
1879, Captain Kelley, of the whale bark Dawn ; 
Oaptain Bauldry, of the Helen Mar, and several 
others of the fleet, who were then somewhtt to the 
northward of the Sea Breeze, saw smoke issuing 
from a steamer's smoke-stack, in range of Herald 
Island, they being then in latitude 70° 51' N , longi- 
tude 174° 30' W., in a narrow space of open 
water, and within 25 miles of Herald Island. 
At that time the Jeannette was so far north 
of these whalers as to be hull-down, hence 
they did not see the actual vessel, but on.'y her 
black smoke, although the weather was quite clear 
at the time. She was standing northward, and was 
herself a little east of due south ir^m Herald Island. 
These are the last tidings of the Jeannette received 
at this port by any one, up to date. We now pro- 
ceed to present snob information as we have gath- 
ered from the Captains, officers and log-books of 
whalers, bearing upon the subject of winds, 
weather, ice-floes, and all physical conditions likely 
to influence the exi,eiiltion. Captain Barnes, of the 
Sea Breeze, thinks the ice was nnunually heavy, early 
in the season of 1879, before the Jeannette appeared 
among them, and up to that time the outlook was 
not promising Had she arrived in the Arctic any 
earlier in the season, she could not have 

PENETBATED NOBTH, 

And would have consumed her provisions need> 
lesBly while awaiting the opening of channels of 
clear water, which began to appear almost slmal. 
taueonsly with her arrival there. Oaptaia Kelley 



Informs ns that several days before September 11th, 
1879, the ice began to close together, and the 
whaling fleet consequently ran south for awhile, 
but on that day he took his first whale of the 
season, in lalitnde 69° 30', longitude 173° 30', 
About September 25th the ice began to open up 
radidly toward the north, when the fleet again pro. 
ceeded north, and fished in sight of Herald Island, 
and the ice was opening up so rapidly to the uortb. 
ward as the season advanced, that in October 
they could sail all around this island. On 
the 7th of October the fleet saw 
Wrangel Land, distant less than 25 miles, 
the coast line showing very little snow, although 
the mountain chain in the interior, some of whose 
peaks are about 2500 feet high, were white with 
snow. At that date they could not only sail around 
Herald Island, but saw plainly that there was no 
ice in sight between them and the east coait of 
Wrangel Land, wh ch greatly surprised him, as the 
fact was unusual, and the outlook had been especially 
discouraging previous to the first week of September. 
Oaptain Kelley says be could easily have reached 
the east coast of Wrangel Land with his vessel at 
this time, and followed it up if necessary, 
but having no occasion to, be did not deem 
it prudent to venture too near a rugged 
and unsurveyed coast without special object. 
The second week of October came and was 
followed by heavy gales ; and as he saw indications 
of a he»vy body of ice across the Arctic basin, to 
the southward of his then position, and the season 
for bad weather was approaching, he considered all . 
who intended to return, and were bound out past 
Bering Straits that seasm, were tnfficiently warned 
to get out of the Arctic as soon as possible. This 
he accordingly did, passing south through the Straits 
October 18th, 1879 just eight days after Captain 
Bauldry, in the Helen Mar, that remained later, part, 
ed company, farther north, with the missing whalers, 
Vigilant alA Mount Wollaiton When Captain Kelley 
came out of the Arctic, in company with the Sea 
Breeze, he passed to the eastward of a large body 
of heavy ice, then making out from the east. 
em coast of Asia, and extending northward of the 
Straits. With the usual northerly winds, he feared 
this large mass of field-ice would become broken up 
and detached, and, thus forced southward in mass, 
it would be likely to close the open straits and block 
np all open space relied on for egress from the 
Arctic into the North Pacific Ocean, Several days 
later he found his anticipations had not been imme- 
diately realized, for he mentions in his memoran- 
dum, •• Fortunately we had a strong gale from the 
south, which lasted several days and kept Bering 
Straits open." Captain Cogan, in the whale bark 
Rainbow, sajs that the early part of the season of 
1879 was the iciest one he ever encountered in the 
Arctic. 

THE LATTEB FABI OF THE SEASON 

Was especially an open one, more particularly 
at the northward. He took nine whales at the edge 
of the ice, and cut in the last one October 2d, whea 
15 miles south of Herald Island. He saw whales 
there, plenty, up to October 12th, when he bore off 
for Bering Straits, the weather having grown too 
rugged to lower boats He found the Straits well 
filled with ice, but October 16[h the wind hauled 
into the southeast, with snow and sleet, but the 
next day he got out of the lea, passing St. Lawrence 



Island October 19tb, In oompany with tbe baik 
Dawn This day. October I9tlj, 1879, tbe eohooner 
Ntwton Booth Captain OauKbell, went a^bore on tbe 
sand beacb at Emma Harbor, eltaated wttbln a sand 
iiplt, at tbe bead of Plover Bay, on tbe soatheast 
coast of Siberia, and tbere became a total loss, al. 
tboagb bpr cargo and tbe ettlre crew were saved. 
Captain McKeona. of tbe sobooner Alaska, was jnst 
soQih of Herald Island on October 13tb, 1879, when 
he leit, aod reached Plover Bay, ontslde or souib oi 
Behrins Straits. October 22d, having worked bis 
way tetween large fields of drift Ice. Tbere he re- 
meined nntU November lit, and tbence passed 
tbroagh the 72° passage November 9tb, when a 
heavy weeiterly gale prevailed, which was sncceeded 
by sootberly winds, which continued during the 
rest of his passage to San Francisco. On October 
10th, 1879. Captain Banldry, In the bark Helen Mar, 
was in company with the whale ships Vigilant and 
Mount WoUaston, ia latitude 71° 60' N., longitude 
173° 45' W., in a sluice-way or channel of open 
water, from 70 to 80 miles southeast of Herald 
Island. There was then a solid body of heavy ice 
to tbe ea^t of them, but no ice to their immediate 
north or westward. The wind was somewhat 
northerly, and these two now missing wbalerf, 
both steered northwesterly toward the clear water. 
This was tbe last time they were seen by any of '.be 
whaling fleet ; for the Helen Mar, flnding that a cold 
north wind was fresbning and rapidly forming new 
ice, spread all possible sail to this strong wind 
favorable for getting out of tbe Arctic and ploughing 
her way forcibly through new ice constantly form. 
Ing around the vessel, she thus ploughed her way 
as far as Point Hope, on the Alaska side of tbe 
Straits, through ice which became six inches thick 
before reaching the open water-passage then reduced 
in the Straits to an average width not exceeding ten 
miles. Five hours later, the wind changed 
and blew from the south, so had 
not the Helen Mar forced her way 
tbroQiJh tbe new ice jnst as she aid that vesiel also 
won'd have bean corralled, and compelled to Winter 
within tbe Ice barrier, which thus early in ibu 
season cloees up Bering Straits, and prevents all 
egress or ingress to the Arctic from the Noith Pacific 
Ocean. As the changes of wind juet referred to ex 
tended to Plover B»y on the Asiatic side, Point 
Hope on the American side, and to St. Lawrence 
Island (Situated south of the mid-channel), as 
shown by the logs of vessels quoted, they were 
general, not merely local winds, and doubtless 
reached northward and affected the course of tbe 
Vigilant and Mount Wollaslon, now 

ICE-LOCKED WITHIN THE ABCTIC, 

With a oooiiiderable and indefinite body of clear 
water extending northward and wea'watd from them 
while toward the south, impenetratla io« had hope- 
Jessly cut them off from all retreat Tte life his- 
tory of Captain Ebfnze- F. Nye. of tbe latter vef- 
Bfl. l8 a startling romance of hairbreadth escapfs 
from many thipwrecks and pos t'rns or great dan- 
ger, and he bas be n heard ' o s<iy i hit be sbouli not 
fear to Witter In tbe Arctic w ft hi< vessel, were ho 
BO ciroumttiDced. Now, what is more natural, th-n 
When finding themFe'ves thus cut off and c'osed in 
oomple'ely by ice in the Straits south of hem. and 
know ng for a certainty that they woula te obliged 
to Wintsr in the Arctic, than a desira o catch 
another whale or two, a d stowaway the binbbir 



untried, to supply the crews witb food necessary to 
withstand an Arctic Winter ? From the 
momeLt tbeir escape was considered hope. 
Isis. their tactics wholly changed, and 
were promptly directed to secure the best possible 
protection to life, under tbe changed circnmstances. 
The question with them was not, What will we do? 
but What can we do? To satisfy tbelr most pres- 
sing demand for Winter food in so frigid an atmos- 
phere, by captnring and storing up frerb blubber, 
they would be obliged to keep in channels of open 
water, however far north such might extend at this 
late season of tbe year. As the open area available 
to them trended northwesterly, contlnnlng probably 
while ten days of southerl; winds prevailed, accord- 
ing to records in tbe log-books of otber vest^els south 
of the Straits, their progress northward would be 
more easily effected. Some Captains think open 
water may fxtend 200 miles further north after paS" 
sing the ice barrier txteoding 10 miles above Herald 
Island, Their next consideration wonld be to select, 
as far as in their power to do, tbe safest place. ^ 
to Winter, placing their vessela near some protect, 
ing shore, say Wrangel Land, where they would at 
least be protected on one side from tbe pressure of 
large bodies of moving ice. Having seen tbe Jean, 
netle, whom they knew intended wintering far 
north, and observed her passing up that same north- 
erly channel but five weeks before it is quite nat. 
ural that they should seek to reach a point, with a 
fair wind to favor them, at which tbey could most 
nearly hope to communicate with her. either di- 
rectly or by building a fire, whose rising smoke 
wonld attract ber attention, knowing that a vessel so 
well fitted was the nearest and only assistance they 
could hope for in ca^e of pressing neces- 
Bity. We bazird no idle opinion, whatever 
the fate of these now missing whalers may event- 
ually prove to be, when we presume that they made 
every effort to communicate with the Jeannette and 
to Winter their vessel as near to her as the clear 
water to tbeir northwestward could possibly enable 
them to approach her Winter quarters. Capt. Baul. 
dry ga s, that October 24th, 1879. when favored by 
a northerly wind, he carried all sail he could crowd 

on the Helen Mar, to escape from the Arctic she 

was tbe last vessel to come ont that season. The 
cold north wind then formed the new ice so solid, 
and so rapidly, that in twenty-four hours the new 
ice to tbe southward where be was, bore a sled 
loaded witb one ton of blubber, having also 15 men 
alongside of it at the time. 

WHEN THE WIND OHANOED 

To the south this new ice became more 
or less broken, but massed up solid excepting a gut 
or channel running from Point Hope to past the 
Dlomede Islaids, which remaiced open. While he 
describes bow the Ice closed in aronnd Point Hope, 
preventing all egress, he feels quite confident that 
for fome time the water continned open far north of 
the spot where he parted company with the Vigilant 
and Mour.t WoUaston. especially along tbe gnt, 
slnice or cbanoel wi-y, where tbe oorrent sets along 
the east coat<t or Wrangel Land and past Herald 
Island. Whatever new ice was formed above, be 
thinks was continually being broken up and re- 
packed by overridiog la>er after layer, and first 
packing solid into b-mmocky ice along tbe southern 
borders of the open wa er in tbe Arctic. Being 
once fairly blocked In the Straits, it fine builds 



1 



northward, encroacbing from the eoatli, until the 
last remaining open wat ir Is cloeed up solid and 
dlBappears for tbe year. He says tbe series of gales 
from tbe northwest, which prevail In tbe Arctic late 
in tbe season, drift all looeie ice southward from tbe 
vicinity of Herald Island and channels around 
Wrangel Land, and whil't packing tais ice into im> 
penetrable masses at the southern portion of the 
Arctic, be believes they must open a clear channel 
which would enable Oapt. De Long, with tbe Jeannelte 
already in position and capable of steaming against 
a head wind, to penetrate to higher northern 
latitudes, if so inclioed, and attain a par- 
allel quite inacceat<ible to any vessel which 
might enter the Arctic a year later, in 1880. 
A repetition of the same class of weather and winds 
this year may again enable him la e in tbe season, 
even after the Straits are closed, to follow p.lODg 
nortaward along the eastern shore of Wrangel Lind 
an} attain a still higher deiree of latitude, 
through open areas of water, on tbe borders 
of which wild geese, ducks and otber 
eea fowl go annually north to rear their 
young. The unseasonable weather of the past two 
years has been exceptional ('79 and '80. j Ice has 
made in the Arctic, along the northern coast of Si- 
beria, and accumulated and remained thsre in 
heavy mas es, as no whaleman has ever before ob- 
served. Owing to tbe position of the ioe-pack there 
during these years an unusual cnrrent baa been ob. 
served petting southerly along tbe east side of Wran- 
gel Land ; thenoa turning westerly again, it carvea 
to tbe eastward and fi^ws along the northern edge 
of the ioe-pack, ex'ending north of Hiberia, 
toward Point Hope, where this eddy tejims tbe 
Knro Shiwo setting nortbeisterly past Point Bar- 
row, thence ooDtinues soutb of Prince Patrick's 
Island around Point Bee by, through Melville 
foand, to Baffin's Biy, and so on into the Atlantic. 
This Kuro 8hiw) thmw* off a branch norihwest 
of Oape Lisbourne, in the Arctic, in the neighbor- 
hood of latitude 69° 30' north, loQgitude 168° weat, 
at tbe usual apex of tbe southern point of the io- 
barrier extending down frOm tbe north early in the 
season. This brsccb becomes a strong current set 
ting northwesterly up ani along the opening chan- 
nel, usually passing nver Herald Sboal and keeping 
to the eastward of Heriild Inland in its progress 
ncrthward. It is not unlikely that in 

THE UNEXPLORED NORTH 

It somewhere fakes a turn, and flows south- 
erly along the east coast of Wrangel 
Land!, thus supplying that unusual current 
observed by soaae of fie whalers durinz the two 
past seasona A more car fui s udy of this current 
may offer some clue to the probable form and ex- 
tent of the northern part of Wrangel Lind, al 
though all cnrrenta once within the Arctic basin 
are liable to change with 'he wind and position of 
ice-barriers, exc"pt the Eu-o Shirvo. No piece 
of any vessel lost In toe Arctic was ever found 
Bouth of the place of her loss Oiptain 
Binldry says, tbat if frozen in the Arctic, he slould 
consider the Fafest WiQt='r qaar'e-s to be on the 
southwest Bide of Wratitel Land, a point unob- 
eervpd b? «ny ve?S'l thi-i \e i Oaptiin E. E. 
Sultb, who actfd es ioe-pilot of the Corwin. informs 
me that he has mide thirteen voyages to tie Ar'.tic 
Ojiai from the PnciSc wide, and has pas-'ert oLe 
Winter among the native Innuits. Ho tas, most 



emphatioall7, that no sach thing as an Iceberg ex- 
ists or ever forms in the Arctic Ocean on the Pacific 
s'ds. There is only what Is termed hammocky ice 
which, when crowded together, may occasionally 
so pile its overlyiag stratas as to become 100 feet 
thick. He has seea such aground in ten or twelve 
fathoms of water When fairly afloat, seven. eighths 
of their mass ie submerged below the surface. 
Other captains claim to have seen expectlonal ice, 
grounded or anchored in 19 and 22 fathoms of water, 
respectively; although they admit led ihese were ihe 
extreme cases wi bin their knowledge. Ice in the 
Arctic 01 ihe Pacific side fljats from two to ten feet, 
averaging more nearly, lees than six feet out of wat. 
er; this woald give it a dep b of 42 feet under water. 
Ice often grounds in 7 to 8 fat boms, and when 
forced by tbo pack into 3^ fathoms, tbe friction 
between blocks, during tbe compression, emits 
eolian strains of continuous eonnd. Several cap- 
ains estimate tbe average general ibiokness of 
the surface ioe in this Arctic basin, where i 
freezes withou displacement by pressure, to be 
about 3^ fathoms, or 2" feet under water. In 
1875, he anchored within one mileot Herald Island, 
tbe east end of whtoh is situated in 
latitude 71° 23' N.; longitude 175° 40' W., 
but observed no good landing place He described 
it a.4 an almost barren rock with rugged sid^s. It is 
• Bbaoed somewhat like the profile of a human foot, 
lees than five miles long by a mile and a half wide 
at its broadest part, being probably 800 to 9li0 feet 
high at tbe heel or eastern end. Captain Thomas 
Long informed me that when in tbe bark iViie, be 
remained three days within flf reen miles of Wrangel 
Land on the 14tb, 15th and 16th of August, 1K67 — 
when he made a drawing of the profile of the Ooast 
from Oa[,e Thomas to Oape Hawaii. Several 
high peaks were seen, one of which was 
taken to be a volcano. Althongh frequently 
seen, it iii generally admitted tbat no person has 
yet eucceedefi in landing upon thi-i generally un- 
approachable terra incognita. This closes tbe record 
of reports received concerning the year 1879 in the 
Arctic. We sbail now consider reports received 
this year, to assieit ns in forming 4 jast estimate of 
tbe prevailing weather and general characteristics 
of tbe season, as well as to carefully weigh tbe 
value of unfortunate ramorj, which have been 
thoughtlessly, surely not maliciously, circulated in 
t.he Eogtish papers published in Japan, and ex- 
tensively copied by tbe press all over the world, 
regarding tiie fate of our brave countrymen. On 
the 24th of September, 1880, the whaling bark 
Legal Tender, Oaptain Fisher, was the first 
vessel to reach our port from the Arctic, 
and reported •• nothing has been seen or beard 
from the Jeanndte or the missing whalers. She re- 
ported pa8'4ing Eist Oipe. September 1st, and saw a 
heavy body of solid ice exending from there to 
within foor miles of the Diomede^ ani from tbence 
to at. Lawrence Bay. Brig Hidalgo. Oapt. Williams, 
made a similar report. Dr. W. H. Dall, aotlog as 
AHSistant in charge of the U. 8. Ooast and Geodetic 
Survey in Alaska, has jast returned from a cruise in 
the Yukon, w ih which he made a thorough recon- 
noisance of tbe western and northern coast line of 
tbe Territory of Alaska as far as Icy Oape, and In 
his intercr.urse with the natives he heard of neither 
the Jeannetle nor either missing whaler, nor any re- 
ports whatever of any wrecks the past year. 



BABE •• BE& BBEEZE," 

Oapt. Barneo. oame out of tbe Arctic, paseiriR Icy 
Oape 8eptaml)ur 6.ti, and left Plover Ba; Hnptember 
lltn, 18«0, wliere tbe Bteatuwhaler Mary and Helen, 
Oapt. Uweo, was b)iliog out, baylug taken 27 
whales. All vessels reported unanlmoasly no tid- 
ings of any of tbe absent Teaeelri. yoboouer Alaska, 
Uapt. UcKeuua, entered tbe Arctic tbla year Jane 
24 h, and found tbe w^atbnr uon.-'uaily mild. Une 
wbaliDg Captain told me tbat tbe weatber nortb bad 
been so luilii tbis year tbat be bad reall; suffered 
more from cold in San Francisco tbe pist week than 
during tbe whole of last Summer in tbe Arctic. 
Bart Dawn. Oapt. Hickmott. took ber first bo vhead 
whale near Plover Bay, April 30th. Saw but little 
ice at any time, and tbat very light, and none loose 
from tbe pick. After svard made fast to the solla ice 
for ten cays, as we would alon^»<ide of a wharf. 
July 18tb took a bowbead in sight of Her^ild Inland. 
Oraised around in tbe neighborhood of 
Herald Island nntll August lOtb, then 
went to tbe east shore and found 
Wba'es plenty oil' I;y Oape. L^ft Plover Bay to re. 
turn September 28(b. Bark Norman. Oaptain Hee- 
nan took her first waaie in ibe Arctic Jane 3(1, and 
last one September 23d Oime out throuKb Bering 
H'raitB and Fox iBliDds October 16tb. Bark Helen 
Mar, Oaptaiu Bauldry, was agiin this year the last 
vessel to lei«e the Arctic, from which she pas^^ed out 
October 4tb if^be had eatered the Arctic Slay 9:b. 
and made strict inqairieB from the native Innriits 
along the the coast for Dew8 of any kind from the 
missing whalers and tbe Jeanneite but got no tidings 
whatever ot either. AuRust 2l8t she sigh ed Wran- 
gel Land, distant 4<l miles, but was unable to 
approach nearer at that time, on account of 
heavy ice. Oaptain McKenna says : '> TaeOaptainB 
of tbe whaling fldet are uoauimous in their 
expressions of approval oi the able manner in which 
Captain h Hooper and bis officers, of the United 
States revenue steam-cuiter Thomas Corwin. have 
conducted tbe eenrch for the Jeannette !>ud missing 
whalers. They are deserving of great credit through- 
out tbe voyage for the e'jerg/ and thoroughness 
with which tbey have prosecuted the labor." The 
Corwin made five trips across the Arctic Basio, in a 
northwesterly course, besides vit-lting every availa. 
ble point along the coasts of Alaska and Siberia, 
forming the southern shores of (be Arctic Ba- 
Bin. Oa ber first trip she made the ice whej nearly 
350 miles aouth of Herald Island, and retarned. 
July 26 h she got within 60 miles of tbe Inland; 
August 3A within three miles, and agiin almost as 
near August 20th. Stie ran op a lane <^f open 
water as far aa latitude 71° 37' norih longitude. 174° 
30' west, and was, Auhubc 15tb, 1880, 30 miles 
northeast of Herald Island. O > September llt.i she 
ran wiihin 25 miles doe east of Cape Hawaii, 
on the extreme sontbeastern end of Wrangel Land . 
Oapt. Hooper kindly exhibited to me bis chart and 
track in the late voyatje of the Corwin. Fro u 
Bering Straits, where tbe stream varien from one to 
three knots, its teaaperature is 40° to 42° Fahrenheit, 
and in its course pa'>t Poin>: Barrow, it never ex'ends 
over 40 miles north of the American shore. He 
Visited Pdint Barrow an! found four miles of clear 
water along the Alaska shore, outside of which tbe 
loe was heavily packed. Hammocky ice is not at all 
Impassable for sled parties. Th i surface is inler- 
epersed with bammockB or little mounds of lee, the 



greater part of which rise from ten to fifteen feet 
above the surface, and cccaslonally, but rarely, one 
is seen forty feet high. It IB easy to run around 
them without ever attempting to go over them. He 
Bays tbe main body of the northern loe pack sl'.uated 
near the centre of tbe Arctic, aoes north when it 
breaks up. while loose ice which maybe south of 
Herald Island, setB south. He thinks tbat tbe ice 
seldom ever melts on tbe shallow spots between 
Wrangle Land and Siberia. A djep-water current 
Bets northward in a channel east of Herald Island, 
indicatiug an open outlet farther north, snfficent In 
volume to keep this deep channel open. Captain 
Hooper's observations found ► oint Hope was laid 
down on the ('harts seven miles too far to the west- 
ward. When at Cape Lisbourne she mined and took 
on board 25 tons of excellent coal, from ttie surface 
outcroppings of several fine veins It burned well, 
making steam readily, and gave off but little more 
smoke than anthracite, and no undesirable surplus, 
age of gaseous fumes. It is solid, compact, bright, 
looking, and breaks in cubical forms. Cap". E. E. 
Smith tells me that he informed Cap'. De Long of 
this abundant suoply of good coal in the Arctic, be- 
fore the Jeannette sailed from San Francisco, in 
order tha' he mi><ht coal there, should occasion re- 
quire. By tbe foregoing carefully-collected data, 
we egtabliab the fact tbat the Jeannette wa3 last seen 
September 31, l'i79, and the missiog whalers, 

THE "VIGILANT" AND • MJTJST WOLIiASTON " WEBE 
LAST SEEN 

October 10th, 1879, within about eighty miles of tbe 
same spot, since which dates nothing whatever 
has been heard from either of them. All reports 
claiming to aiye news of these vessels are thus 
proved to be wholly without foundation. With the 
facts 8S far as known thus fairly before us, we may 
roasonnbly argue that, had any abandonment of tbe 
Jeannette talien place, with her seventy-Blx trained 
dogs, ber seven dog-sleds, and two experienced 
lanuit hunters, all admirably trained and equipped 
for ice-travel, and a liberal supply of pemmican,her 
sled parties would have made for tbe southern edge 
of the ice-pack near Herald Island as ths most 
natural of all spots frequen ed by American whalers 
every season, and to them alone co .Id they confi- 
dently look for aid and relief. Having abundant 
proof tbat no such parties appeared, we may feel 
assured that tbe Jeannette is safe and sound, 
and her Polar voyage of scientific exploration is pro. 
ceeding favorably accordicg to the pl^n of its en- 
teruri'lng and generous patron, and it is fair \o pre. 
sume that i-he passed northward along the unknown 
coast of Wrangel Land beyond immediate commuQl- 
cation, just as all on board fully hoped and iatend- 
ed. The icy barrier no tu of Bering Straits is 
maintained trom 6>^ to 8 degrees of latitude further 
south than on the Greenland side. Its lowest point 
is usually at tbe apex which marks the division of 
the current, and called by whalemen •< Post Office 
Point " Just east of this, rbere generally makes 
norihward a high of open water, in whijh, Oapt. 
Williams informs me, tbat he once reached about 
Ist.tndfs 73° 3J' N , which is about the same latitude 
reached by the U S. ship Pincennet, in 1855. Obser- 
vitions aken within tbe Arcitc circle, require 
to be verified with great care, owing to excess- 
ive radiation of the at osphere and the great 
variation and extreme sensitiveness of the com- 
pasj. The difference of isothermal Unes between 



corresponding latitudes In tbe Atlantic and Pacific 
Bides of tbe A'ctio may be owing to tbe extreme 
Bboalaess ot tbe Arctic baein, jas"; north of Bering 
Straits, OP to the presence of the trne magnetic north- 
poie at a poiit in latitude 70° 08' N., longl. 
tnde 96° 45' W.. where the needle points vertically. 
NordenetjoldB reports the east coasts of all Arctic 
lands as beavily iced.wtien their west coas's are often 
comparatively free. This is explained by the con- 
stant rotstion of the earth, mafeing the shores, the 
weather barriers, or resistirg and advancing side, 
while all wes ern shores are relatively lee shores. 
His recent tidal observations jast south of Wrangel 
Land, show an average rise and fall of only eight 
inches. This seems to indicate that the marine 
basin north cf Bering Straits is ot limited extent, 
and either land-locked or composed of an archipel- 
ago of numerons islands connected by s unds, with 
little surrounding water. Judging by the compara> 
tive size ot Greenland any Arctic continent that 
may exist, if shaped in general proportion, would 
likely be about four and a half degrees in 
depth frora the physical north pole of the 
earth. All shores within the Arctic circle appear 
to be skirted with islands. Captain Keenan, when 
" boiling out " in the bark James Allen. a.bont 100 
miles north of Point Barrow, saw with perfect di-- 
tinctness a range of high land, visible a long way 
north of the vessel's position. This is annually 
confirmed by the flight of large cumbers of aquatic 
birds, which pass northward from Point Barrow in 
the Sprint?, and return in August or early in Sep- 
tem her with tbjir young, which are always reared 
upon land. When we consider thiat the ice barrier 
in this part of the Arctic successfully tesiats the 
insidious approach of 

THE WABM KUBO SHIWO, 

Coming from the tropics, tnd a btaoch of which 
flows past Japan and throawh Bering S'raits, just 
north of which it is forced to foikanrt throw ofif a 
branch, it irgoes a solid buking to sustain it im- 
mavibly so far south, such as ica frozen solid to 
Ilia botton. and thus anchored in shoal water, a com. 
pact archipelfgo, or continenral coatt iioe farther 
north, would present. Our luNt inquiry is regard- 
ing the strength of the Jeannette and her pow.ri of 
resistance. Before leaving San Francisco she was 
most critically examined at Mare Island Navy 
Yard, and extraordinary precautioas wire taken to 
Strengthen and fit htr for the severe trials she is 
likely to encounttr in the ice. Ten feet of solid 
timber were heavily bolted in ber bow, and she was 
plated outside with straps of bar iron and heavy oak 
sheathing. Extra irou beams were in'rodnced on 
each sldecf her boil, rs, to add retistance to her 
sides when under pri Siure. Sbe was fastened 
throughout, though and through with 
wooden books, fer m( ra in nnmb-r than 
I ever before saw in a single vessel. Her bilge was 
strengthened witb long layers of six-inch timber, 
and her dfck.frame thoroughly examined and 
strengthened and renewed wherever in the least re. 
quired. The extreme sharpness of her model on 
the bottom is calculated to assist in throwing her 
hull out of water above the ice-fields when sub- 
mtttea to a Bide pressure, thus relieving her from 
the full force of crushing situations. Her copper 
propeller—io replace which she carries three addi- 
tional gunmetal ones- hoists out and takes inboard. 
In addition to being well built and specially adanted 



for Polar explorations, these improvements give 
her a c ipacity of resistance that few vessels have 
possessed. Mountains of heavy ice, such as no 
human agency can contend against, are all she 
seems unprepared to meet and combat successfully. 
To the few who question 

THE VALUE OP ABOTIO VOTAGtES, 

A brief outline of their utility may be needed. Dr. 
Benjamin Franklin, one of the wisest men born on 
this continent, was in 1753 one of their earliest ad- 
vocates. Abroad we have Feen British, Qermans, 
Austrians, Swedes, Norwegians and Dutchmen tak- 
ing part in Polar explorations. Their results are 
very varied. Their constant observations aim at tbe 
discovery and seek needed information to aid the 
correct demonstration of great physical laws, neces- 
sary to advance aloiost every department of science, 
astronomy, nuvigation, hydrography, meteorology, 
Including eiectcicity and magnetism. Specimens 
collected for students of natural hlstorj' furnish new 
data for drawing correct geological analogies and 
ascertaining the geographical distribution of species. 
The observed variations in the movement of 
pendulums within tbe Arctic Circle, gauge tbe extent 
that earth is flattened at the poles. Great laws are 
world-nide, and a knowledge of tbe whole earth is 
essential to their perfect understanding. Such 
knowledge increases the iffective power of man by 
augmenting bis knowledge, and thus accelerates 
scientific discoveries, useful in arts, agriculture, 
commerce and manufactures. In the climate and 
winds of Polar regions, tbe world bas obtained a 
partial clue of fundamental laws regulating tbe 
motor agencies of atmospheric currents, and the 
equalizing influence of warm, gulf and icy streams, 
that traverse < ceans as arterial rivers. How general 
will be tbe benefits bestowed, when oar National 
Weaiher Bureau, assisted by such knowledge, is able 
to appl.c wider rules of judgment, and more surely 
predict the probabilities of approaching storms and 
seasons one week in advance more certainly than it 
now veatures to forecast a single dav. Id Boothia, 
the two Bosses found tUe magnetic pole, whose 
mysterious influence tie mariner's compass obeys. 
The mass of observatti ns collected on all sides of 
this magnetic pole have as^iste'l science to perfect 
our knowledge of the laws of magnetic 
declination and dip. Providence has pe'^- 
pled these high latitudes with human 
belnes, who Winter and Summer there, as do all 
animals upon which they subsist. Each successive 
voyage has swept away some old error and brought 
to light new phenomena, tending to advance human 
knowledgo. The problem of a Northwest passage 
around North America is nnt one of any direct utility, 
although the gain to commerce through such scien- 
tific explorations has doubtless been very great, ytt 
dlificult for the masses to always discern. Their 
authentic surveys are valuable to our whaling 
interests, annually representing many, mil- 
lions, i The Northeast passage around Asia, 
accomplished by Nortensftjold in 1878-79, promisea 
large rewards to both science and commerce. 
The Review of the SItnation, 
After doubling East Cape in ber pa sage through 
Bering Straits. <he Jeannette held a nearly due north 
course, continuing past that little granite islet called 
Herald Island, and was reported to us as last seen by 
an American whaler early one clear Autumnal after- 
noon in September, 1879. She was steaming north- 



ward, also osrrTiog all Ball, alooK the eastern abore of 
Wrangel LiSDd. aboat twenty miles from tbe coast 
lloe with a brl^tit prospect before ber and a Polar 
Bea BtretoblDg its open cbannel northward as far as 
tbe eye conid reaob 8be was mabiuK tbe ntraost of 
ber opporcanitles tbroagb tbis most fortnnate open- 
ing, then qaltn clear of old l:e Tbat ulRbt was a cold 
one bat after tbls tbe wind blew from tbe Hontb 
and tbx weatbf r oontlnned favorable for several 
days. Captain Williams says tbe past two \e»rs 
appear to have been specially made for tbe sncre^s 
of tbe Jeannelte. He cannct imsf^lne any conditions 
better for ber. One whaling Oaptain said the 
weather and obince seemed made expressly for ber 
safely. 

WHAT MORE BNOOUBAOINQ PBCSPEOI 

Oonld an enterprising explorer, sacb as tbe brave 
Ce Long, desire 'i His previnns Arctic record on the 
Atlantic side, In tbe little Juniata, marbed by in- 
trepid grit and perseverance, is well bnown among 
careful students of Polar exploratioos. This year 
tbe ice-ban ier remained solid durlrg tbe early part 
of tbe season, in a carved and pointed bat anbrolten 
line, from abreast tbe soatbern limit of Herald 
Island to Point Barrow, on tbe American Ooast. 
What it may have dooe after tbe last whaler left the 
Arctic, ws can only conjecture. Native Innalts 
within the Arctic Circle, say their bad, thick 
and snowy weather is all at Spring and 
Aatamn seasons. Tbe northern and eastern 
coasts of Abia, as well as the western and 
northern coasts of North America, are closely 
Skirted with groups of islands, forming an extensive 
archipelago, Bome of which are large, enpeciaily 
Within tbe Arctic Ocean. This prevailing similar- 
ity of formation leads to a strong inference that 
Wrangel Land may be bat an island 
frin^iiog the continent. If it accords in general 
symmetry with other Arctic island^!, we may judge 
tbat its northern boundary would naturally be sit- 
uated near latitude 78°, or thereabouts. As no one 
bas yet reported to tbe world how far tbls laud itx- 
tends. It is to be expected, and now exceedingly 
probable, tbat an avowed explorer like De Long, 
whose special duty was to explore and report tbe 
boundaries of all land enoointered within the 
Arct o circle, should, while running north along a 
shore of undetermined limits, with open water, 
whose channels were comparatively free from ob- 
Btrncting ice, stretching oat to invite bim onward 
most naturally aim to improve to tbe utmost such 
an excellent opportunity to penetrate its unknown 
mysteries, and definitely flx its boundaries. 80 we 
may safely presume with little donbt, tbat be 
then and there settled the extent of Wrangel 
Land, provided it ^proves to be an island. 
Nothicg is more probable than that the Jeannette, 
fally equ'pped as she was for steaming tbroagb 
moderately thick layers of freshly-formed ice, per- 
haps congealed only at night, and, if so. somewhat 
'■ mushey," should, after she was last reported seen, 
have continned ber course due north, steering 
toward Ue Pole along tbo eastern shore of Wrang.3l 
Land ander its protecting inflaence, perhaps aided 
by a current, whence, from our information, she 
was likely to Qnd an open (6) after uassing tbe 
shoals, and reaching ten miles or so north of Herald 
Island, until she passed its northern limit. 
Bay 78° or so, when, if Qndintv it to be an island, she 
met tbe drift ice setting eastward along its nortbern 



shore tbroagh some form of s rait, sonnd or open 
sea, where she may have met thH barrier of per- 
petual Ice, and become frozen In for the Winter well 
north of that iHland. From frfquent cnnversafiOLg 
with Capt. De Long, and Oapt. Dunbar, his ioe-pilot, 
before their departure, and tbe last and mosl relia- 
ble reports of hlH position, and the conditions sur- 
rounding the location of his vessel. It is quite k gicul 
to inter tli«t the Jeannelle passed a cold bat qniet 
Winter, frozen in the ice, north of Wrangel Lai d, in 
about latitude 78°, fully three hundred miles or 
more beyond any commnBlcntlon Inaugurated this 
year and there hibernated, with plenty on board to 
snpply all their necessities and with all hands 
well, for sioSness is scarcely probable among such a 
bealtby net of men, especially while in the pare, 
cold air of the Polar regions, which are ab'-olutely 
free from every kind of Ironical mlaemitic exhala- 
tions. A<thoagh they Wintered fo far nortb, it by 
no means follows as 

A NEOESoABY OONSEQUENOE 

That their long and fevere Win'er has been passed 
In absolute solitude. Two adventarons American 
wbale.ships, tbe Vigilant and Mount Wollaiton, we 
have shown, were last heard from iu the very same 
neighborhood as where the Jeannette was last seen, 
and they, certainly, when once closed in bed mo 
tlves liSely to Influence them also to Increase their 
northing. Because the^e vessels have not since 
been heard from by us, we have no absolute right to 
jump at tbe hasty conclusion that they most neces- 
sarily have bet n crashed in the ico, or that their 
crews hive perished. Think well of those having 
friends on board befo-e you hastily reach any such 
coDclusiou. It is far from impossible tbat these 
two vesfelB, which we know ventured too far north' 
late in the season, in search for whales, may be 
simply detained by the ice, and comfortably frozen 
in, within possible Wiotar cotnmuQication of tbe 
Jeannette, which we also know was well filled with 
all necessary material for sledge excursions over the 
ice. When these whalers were last seen by Captain 
Banldry, in the Helen Mar. they were northward of 
his vessel. In the direction of Wrangel Land. They 
remained, while tbe Helen Mar improved a strong 
north wind, of five hours duration, to leave the Arc- 
tic. After this, the wind blew continuously from 
the sooth for several days, daring which time nei- 
ther of these whalers coald have made any progress 
southward sufficient to escape. Clear water being 
notth of them, they doubiless worked northward as 
described, until the usual pack ice formed, growing 
by accretion from the solid south, until they may 
have been enclosed within 60 miles or so of the 
Jeannelte. The whale ships being In company, and 
thus separated from the outside world, would 
surely aim 10 keep together, and hence, when 
frozen in for the season, must have been near t ) 
each other. The lack of a proper fitting to en- 
counter the rigors of an Arctic Winter, would most; 
likely lead to the temporary if not the permanent, 
abandonment of one of the whalers, and the mot.t 
expedient concentration of their crews on which, 
ever vessel proved most stauncb and favorably 
situated, or most easily heated, which is a considera- 
tion of prime importance. In such caae, the abin- 
doned vessel could furnish ail needed fire-wood for 
tbe other, and some might be also availed of by tbe 
Jeannette, in order to economize her other fuel, 
Bhoald she also prove to be near them. We can 



10 



thus readijy see how the whalera may have provided 
themselves with fnel, a most essential Item in the 
desolate regions of the far nortb ; also, how like the 
native Innaics, they coald. while living in that cold 
climate, eat blabber, or drint whale oil from their 
cargoes with the been relish of an Arotio appetite. 
If eitber of tbage vessels were frozjn in the ice 
within, say sixty miles, of the Jeannette, it ia highly 
probable that intercourse toob place when one party 
enjoyed such excellent facilities for travel over the 
icy wastes, provided the surface was at all smooth. 
The ample supplies of dogs and sledge apparatus car- 
ried by the Jeannette, doubtleps enabled her parties 
to mabe sorties last Winter, and thus penetrate, at 
least, a degree or more northward over the frozen 
surface beyond the Jeannetti's Winter quarters. 
When we hear from one vessel, we may hear from 
all. During 36 years of active Polar explorations 
by ship, boat, and sledge, England has spjnt £982 - 
000, and only fairly lost one expedition and 128 
souls, out of 42 successive expeditions ; and has 
never lost a sledge party, out of about 100 ihat have 
toiled within tbe Arctic Circle. The past Winter, 
having been an unusually severe one, and especially 
cold, 

THE NATUB&L lOE BABBIEB 

EocouDtered by whale-ships in the southern part of 
the Arctic, extended lower down than usual, eppe;i. 
ally early in the season, and it is probable ihat the 
open pastaaea in the main body of ice far north in 
the unexplored regions of the Arctic were lata in 
breaking up, ana that the JeanntUe was unable to 
move clear of the ice bodies affixod to the shore 
Where she wictered, so as to drift or sail and mabe 
any material headway this 8um uer before the 
annual retreat of the whaling flaet trom the southern 
shores of the Arctic became necessary to enable 
them to get out past Bering Straits before their 
annual blockade, which Is often comparatively early. 
The Jeannette would than be far beyond any possible 
commuuicaiion inaugurated this year, and moot 
llfcely made but little change in has: position until 
comparatively late in the seaeoD. If the whalers are 
frozen in near her, the same result applies equilly 
to them and the safety of one at least of them, 
depends upon thilr powers of endurance. Not 
being as h^avy built, braced, fitted and protected as 
the Jeannette, their chances of successful resistance 
are correspondingly less. All the while this mass of 
Ice, and with it, the veisels it miy enclose, appiars, 
when not atllxed to some islind or terra firma, to be 
ste dily setting eastward by an onward progress, 
moving as regularly as the movement of all glacial 
floes oa mountain sides and valleys ; in this case 
impelled by the action of the Kuro Saiwo, or 
Japanese warm siieam, which enters the Arctic 
Ooean through Bering Straits and fl j*s eastwardly 
along the northern shore of the Continent of North 
America, and thence sats down the west coast of 
Greenland, taking up in its passage a fl:et of ice- 
bargs incident to the Arctic waters on the Atlantic 
Bide, which it bears and discharges into the 
Florida Gulf stream at a point northeasterly, 
or abreast of New Foundland, whose 
renowned fisheries are among the rocky banks 
largely formed of Arctic boulders, floated there 
When frozen within icebergs, and precipitated along 
their course, as dissolving thaws release and drop 
them. The British discovery ship Resolute, one of 
Hit Edward Belcher's expedition, was abandoned 



May 15th, 1854, when f.^oz9n in, not far from 
Baechy Island, and was picked up and brought into 
New London harbor, in Oonneoticnt, by Oaptain 
Uuddington, of the American whale-ship George 
Henry, on the 15th of Sepcembar, 1855, in latitude 
67" off the west coast of Baffin'B| Bay. During 
this titue of her abandonment she had drifted 
eastward in the ice-floe, over 1200 milei^, or about 
an average of two miles and a half each day. 
Although the intense cold of the past Winter, whose 
isothermal records reveal remarkable extremes of 
temperature, may have so frozen the ice, as to cause 
a late breaking up this year, and the Jeannette con. 
sequently has been unable to actually sail in open 
water but comparatively little dista' ce this Sum- 
mar, or more properly Autumn ; she la now un- 
doubtedly placed, with a crew trained to their 
business, in the bast possible position for her future 
work ; and ihe second Winter of an Arotio cruise is 
that to which all experienced Polar voyagers look, 
for the accomplishment of tbeir most effeciive 
sledge. work and important explorations. It is 
highly improbable that the Jeannette could have 
been at any time during this year snfilciently far 
south to render cimmunication with her pos- 
Bible, by any vessel which bad not, like herself, 
wintered far north 

IN THE MAIN BODY OF HEAVS lOE, 

At any rate, if she was properly engaged, in ac- 
cordance with the designs of her intended voy. 
age, a I laid out before her departure, she should 
have been, and doubtless was, far beyond any 
present reach, and few experieoc d students of 
Arctic discoveries and previous expeditions will be- 
lieve that she could posfibly have been reached in 
one single season by any vessel despatched lo ac- 
complish in one short Summer a distance which 
tbe Jeannette, with a much saperior outfit, required 
over a year, including two Summers and Autumn 
seasons, to traverte. The faithiul search of Gap. 
tain C h. Hjoper and his efficient stafl of officers, 
the honored guests of the Academy this evening, 
during the recent cruise of the United States Rev- 
enue cutter Thomas Corwin, in the open sea of the 
Arctic Ocean south of the ice barrier, and in open 
channels, 30 miles northeast of Herald Island, Au- 
gust 15tn, In latitude 71° 37' N., longitude 174'' 30' 
W., was a noble effort, well-conducted, under an 
able and sagacious commander, despatched in re- 
sponse to a generous public sentiment, by a consid- 
erate Govdrnment. Although it reacaed no higher 
latitude, it accomplished all that was possible 
under existing circumstances. But th^ enthusiastic 
and plucky De Long had pmhed th& Jeannette far 
north, witQin an encircling burier of heavy ice, 
through which no vessel could penetrate, exoeot by 
degrees, and surely not in one solitary season, like 
the short-lived Arctic Summer. The faithful search 
made by the Academy's guests this evening vas all 
that could be, but the Jeannette's present po- 
sition must have loeen so far north that it 
was simply impossible to reach her. Their 
sjaroh and the constant inquiry of whalers 
among the lonults proved the entire lalsity 
of all idle stories, founded on rumors of her loss. 
This Academy extends a warm and hearty welcome 
to Oaptarns and officers of our Pacific Arctic whaling 
fleet, present with us this evening, who have bo 
generously assisted with their counsel our investi- 
gation ot this subject. Their presence in tbe Arctlo 



11 



brought nR the Iset news of ttae Jeannrtle Bnd miFB- 
lug wbalers. Their daring and adveutaroos spirit 
leads them ar uaally to explore the intricate and 
coDSiancly cbsDglDg Ice-barrlera and open cbannela 
of tbp Arctic Da8in north of n». How can we better 
ezpresa onr high appreciation of their valoable ser- 
vices and interesting reports, than by adding onr 
endorsemeit to the well chosen words of the illup- 
trions explorer Nordensbjold. when he pays this 
fitting trlbuie to tbt-ir intelllgenre and enterprise, Id 
his despatch dated 8tockholm, October 'i!7th. 1880. 
He says : • The only persons who have an ext'nsive 
knowledge foanded on real experience of the ice In 
the sea north of Bering Straits are the American 
wbalers. 8hoald it become neceesary to eei d asbist 
ance to Captain DeLong, these practical Arctic nav'. 
gators Bbonld be tlrst con^alted," and be gracefnlly 
adds Admiral Rodgers, Professor Dall, Captain 
Hooper, and others not to be forgotten. 
It is qnite po!>8lble that the coal-se ms at Cape 
LisbonrDe may have their coanterpart on the shores 
or in the mountain ranges of Wratigel Land, and 
any coal mine witnin tbe Arctic circle could turoleh 
the necessary gas material for inflating a captive 
balloon capable of rising to an oohorving bel(2t t of 
2000 feet, from wbicb, with favorable atmospUerlo 
conditions, the eartb's anbnown enrface toward the 
Pole coairt be discerned with a bira'd-eje view, and 
the position of absent or missing vest-eU deter- 
mined, if within the range ot vision. Should it, ever 
become necessary to send out any relief expedition 
to the Polar Basin we denire to call attention to the 
value of ttie coal mines at Cipe Lisbourne, in lati- 
tude 69° north, as of inestimable value f^r oal. 
loon purposes — a means which should certainly be 
availed of. Should flying-mnchtoeH become prac. 
licabie, the dargfrs of polar loe may be avol(1^d. 
The sohooner N»wlon Booth, lost October 19th, 1879, 
or the schooner Lolita. lost ou Saint Lawrence 
Island, September 4th. 1880, miuht furnish driit- 
wood from a wreck whtcu always floats northward, 
and ttus account for such stories, had any such 
wreckage ever been really seen in the Arctic the past 
year. The closest icquiry falls to show that any has 
been actually seen. The unpleasant reports received 
via Hakodate and Tokio ate, therefore, wholly with- 
out fonndatlon. To those scientists who have the 
objects of her perilous voyage most at heart, and 
have made her course a matter of close scientiQc 
scrutiny — and they are scattered through every civ. 
lllzed country of the world — the Important 
fact that nothing has been heard from her 
is the strongest possible testimony that she is just 
where she was designed to go, and that her b:ave 
and accomplished Captain and officers and gallant 
crew, are indeed earning a worthy record for the 
Jeannttte, her owner, their country, and themselves, 
which shall place their names high upon the roll of 
honor. In the lists of distinguished Arctic naviga- 
tors and patrons. Having early acquired a thor- 
oughly practical knowledge of all the important 
details of seamanship and of sbip-ballding, I can 
personally vouch, from 

A CLOSE IMSPEOTIOK 

Of every part of the Jeannelte before she sailed from 
San Francisco, that she was an able, staunch, and 
thoroughly-fitted vessel, well calculated for the pro- 
posed expedition, and most ably manned and offi- 
cered, all on board being Intelligent and picked 
men, physically strong in muscle, and in the full 



enjoyment of perfect health. None others were 
accepted for the cruise. In view of 'hese well- 
establishpd facts, it is to be regretted that so many 
have lent themselves too readily to the circulation 
of baseless rumors regarding he safety of the 
Jeannttte, when no possible cause for alarm exists, 
and, on the contrary, we have every cause for ear- 
nest congratnlatlon that her special mission Is being 
faithfully executed, and that it will prove of great 
practical benefit to the advac cement of many im- 
portant branches of science, and thuH Inure to the 
benefit of the whole human race. Let us, to-night, 
as a body of intelligent and scientiQc men, place 
upon record before the world oar abiding faith 
in the abundant success and safe re- 
turn ot the Jeannette, of the American Arctic 
Exploring Expedition, which seventeen months 
ago sailed northward from our port. And as mem- 
bers of this Academy, now assembled in its temple 
of science, whose walls were first dedicated to the 
worship of Clod, may each inquiring soul prove a 
living shrine, dedicated to the great Giver of all scienet 
can investigate, before whom true science end true 
religion shall be wedded with Indii-soluble bonds 
to labor jointly for the elevation of ihs buoaan race. 
Who, then, would not rejoice to belle\ethat the kind 
care ot a Divine Providence, whose universal influ- 
ence is gentle as all-powerful, to direct all things by 
laws of highest wisdom for the greatest ultimate 
good, and without whose knowledge not even a spar- 
row falls to the ground ; will most mercifully watch 
over evftv movement of the absent ones, and thus 
finally Influence their return to us in safety and in 
joy, however far they may penetrate into the Arctic 
domain, beyond any commanlcation which temporary 
barriers may i,uspend. 

Oh&bleb Wolcott Bbocks. 



REMARKS BY CAPTAIN HOOPER. 

At the conclnsJOQ of lUr. Brooks' paper. Captain 
Hooper, of the Tkomai Corviin, was invited to give 
his views on the subject. Captain Hooper said 
that the subject bad been so ably bandied that; 
there was nothing left to say. He com- 
plimented Hr, Brooks upon the thoroughness ot 
his paper, with the tone of which he fully agreed. 
He thanked the Academy for the kind words of 
approval expressed by their presiding officer and 
members this evening, ot the manner in which be 
had conducted the attempt made by tbo United States 
steamer Thomas Gorwin, this year, to communicate 
with the Jeannette. and search for traces of the 
missing whalers. It had afforded bim great cause 
for thankfnlnesB that he had been selected to go on 
such an errand of mercy, and he deeply felt thet all 
Americans, and we as scientls's, should ever be es- 
pecially mindful of the fact that Captain De Long 
and bis brave comrades, at the sacrifice of comfort 
and risk of their lives, have penetrated the Arctic 
regions in the Interest of science, and are liable to 
be in need ot assistance, which onr country should 
be prepared to furnish. That In the event of their 
vessel ever becoming so hopelessly embayed in 
fixed ice as to compel her abandonment, they would 
surely endeavor to reach the southern edge of the 
ice-barrier, or the main coast line of Alaska or Sibe- 
ria, which they would doubtless be able to do. 
The ice in that region is treacherous, and a vessel 
which becomes embayed is for the time being 



12 



as helpless as though she were on dry land. 
To bamanely provide help in case of any snoh 
coot Dgenoy, all will see ttie wiedom of d'^spatcbioi; 
Bome veseel Df>xt year to commuoicate witb the 
natives on each side of Bericg Straits and coatinae 
as far north as the land may prove accessible ; to 
mabe suitable enqiirie? in regard to the JaannetU 
and for the < rew of the missing wbalers ; ana In 
case of fallnre to gain any tidings of tbem in that 
way, to continue nortbward and atlempt to comnaa- 
nioate with tbem in the vicinity of Wrangel Laid. 

Buch a vessel should be propsrly strengthened to 
withstand the ice, and furnisbed with food and 
clothing for at least eiguteen mootbs, to guard 
against any emergency. It wonld be well fo: such a 
vessel to c»rry at least Ave good dog teamn of ten 
dogs each, for land or ice travel, and two light but 
Strong boats fitted for transportation over the ioe. 
Nations universally acknowledge their duty to rescue 
Beaxen in distress ; and sixty or more American 
whalemen are finown to have been ioe bound in tbe 
Arctic. The time will then have come to provide 
suitable assistance, to be near and in waiting, to 
reacb and communicate with the Vigilant, Mount 
Wollasion and Jeannette, and receive the crews of any 
who may then unfortanately have been forced to 
abandon their vessel. 

The subject is worthy of consideration, and should 
not be allowad to drop. Witb regard to the Jean- 
nette. Captain Hooper could offer nothlns? furtner 
than what had been already said by Mr. Brooks. 
i3at one thing must always be borne in mind, and 
that is, that sbe and her brave crew and the missing 
whalemen, our countrymen, are amid the ice of the 
Arctic, and may at any time become in neel of 
assistance. 

CAPT. W.LLIAMS, OF THE WHALING FLEET, 

Being called upon to respond on behalf of the Gap- 
tains of the Arctic fleet, spoke mosc pleasantly 
and in clear and straightforward style. He 
by saying he could cut in a whale 
to himself than he 
but the Academy Boon 
that be could do both 
was one who saw the 
Jeannette's smoke, and says be is sure it was coal 
Bmobe trom her chimney, and not frjst smoke, as 
had been suKgested by some parties. 

Oaptaia Williams said that he had seen the smoke 
of ttie Jeannetle, and that it bore almost due south 
from Herald Island. He remained in the same 
place for two Aaya after he saw the smoke, and as 
the hull of the Jeannetle did not riB3 above tbe hori. 
zon, he felt sure that she was going north. Captain 
Nye, of the since missing Mount Wollaston, who 
came on board Oiptain Williams' vessel, said that 
he also had seen the smoke to the north. It is 
likely that, after Captain Williams left him, Captain 
Nye went to the north of Herald Island. He had 
been up in the Arctic many years, and sometimes he 
almost begins to think that the oftener be goes the 
less be know ab3ut it. The Arctic Ice is very 
changeable. 



with greater comfort 
oould make a speesb, 
came to the conclusion 
in excellent style. He 



CAPTAIN E. E. SMITH'S VIEWS. 

Captain Smith, the ice-pilot of the Corwin, who 
for many years has commanded whalesbipB, said 
that tbere waa no reanon why those on ttie Jewn- 
nette should not come oat of the Arctic safely, even 
if tbe vessel should happen to be lost. He had 
wintered In tbe Arctic, and had been out when tbe 
mercury was 61 degrees below zto. But be had 
experioDced no Incoavpnience except as to tbe parts 
tbat migbt be exposed, as tbe nose, which some> 
times became frost-bitten. Bb.juid it become nee 
e^xary for the officers and crew to abandon tbe 
Jeannette, if they will travel as their Indian guides 
will direct, ihey will be saved. Captain De Long 
doubtless had no idea of coming on of the Arctic 
this jear, bavlDg determined to posb north for the 
time for wbich he was fitted out. He did not think 
he would have come out this year if be could have 
done so. Captiiu Smith gave an intereeting account 
of wintering south of Bering Straits. His remarks 
were delivered with earnestness, and received, aa 
were Captain Williams' and others, with frequent 
applause. 

DR. W. H. DALL, 
Assistant la charge of the Uoited States Coast and 
Geodetic Survey of Alaska, being called on, made 
some happ7 allusions, and closed by ettting tbat be 
could only say ••ditto" to the remarks of Mr. 
Brooks. 

AN AER0N4UT OFPERS HIS SERVICES. 

Just before tbe meeting adjourned Mr. Wells, a 
veteran ae 'onaut, made some inquiries of Captain 
Williams ae to the currents of air in tha Arctic. 
He stated that he bad always desired to make an 
ascent in tbe North, and then off ^rel his services 
to any expedition that should be sent out next year. 
He was certain of being able to take such advan- 
tage of currents of air that he would be wafted 
without difficulty to the Pole. O , if he was re- 
quired to make an ascension in a captive balloon, 
be offered to sscend to an observing distance of one 
mile, if desired. He had made over 500 ascents in 
Europe and elsewhere, and made a balloon 76 feet 
in length, and heated by an engine of three-horse 
power, during the Franco-Prussian war. Mr. Wells 
thought it was more feasible to reasb the Norcb 
Pole by sailing over the ice in a balloon, than by a 
vessel, and cutting throagh the mass of Ice. He 
had come to California for the express purpose. 
Captain iVilliams told him in Winter be could 
pretty generally rely upon a northerly surface wind 
near the earth, to bring him bick, and an upper 
current In tbe opposite direction, to take him north. 
Mr. Wells said that if tbe balloon was scfflolently 
provisioned to sail to the North Pole, if such was 
possible, by seeking the currents, be woull be wil- 
ling to risk bis life in accomplishing the object, 
after obtaining all possible information regarding 
the course of the usual upper aud lower currents of 
air centering around the Pole, such as ordinary cau- 
tion would dictate. After the unanimous passage 
of resolutions, tendering to Mr. Brooks the thanks 
of tbe Academy for the very able and interesting 
paper read, tie Academy adjourned. 



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